I made this post in another thread, but it was kind of off topic in that particular discussion; so I decided to copy it over to its own place.

I was giving my opinion about Mama Corleone. Was she a strong matriarch? Was she a compassionate mother, and a wise woman? Was she the one (or one of the few) admirable person in a family of criminals?

I concluded that she was not particularly strong, compassionate or wise. My opinion is based on what I saw in the movie and not on the book, so here's what I think from that viewpoint:

Mama Corleone was an inhabitant of her own little domestic universe wherein she turned a blind eye to the criminal activities around her (not strong, IMO), believed in non-interference when her daughter was being abused by her husband (not compassionate), and didn't have a clue what Michael was talking about when he came to her with his anxieties about losing his family (not wise).

Yes, Mama raised four children lovingly, no doubt, and possessed a commendable sense of responsibility even for her grandchildren (as seen in GF2 when she scolds Connie for being an absentee mother to her two young sons). But a great many mothers are like this. It is Mama's unquestioning acceptance of the riches of crime and her utter subservience and dependence that don't make her particularly admirable to me.

But even more than that, one particular scene shows me that she exhibits some sort of unwillingness to open her eyes and at least admit what's going on to herself. It's at the end of GF1, where she is heard arguing over an hysterical Connie in the limo outside the compound. I think I hear her say, "Connie, you're wrong," trying o persuade her daughter that Michael didn't have Carlo killed. Mama, wake up -- your son's a mafia don. Why did she think Michael was out of the country for over a year? Didn't she know he killed two people by his own hand?

What do others think of Mama?